Sunday, October 31, 2010

Samhain is a Gaelic festival held on October 31–November 1. The Irish name Samhain is derived from Old Irish and means roughly "summer's end". A harvest festival with ancient roots in Celtic polytheism, it was linked to festivals held around the same time in other Celtic cultures, and continued to be celebrated in late medieval times. Due to its date it became associated with the Christian festival All Saints' Day, and greatly influenced modern celebration of Halloween.

Samhain marked the end of the harvest, the end of the "lighter half" of the year and beginning of the "darker half". It was traditionally celebrated over the course of several days. Many scholars believe that it was the beginning of the Celtic year. It has some elements of a festival of the dead. The Gaels believed that the border between this world and the otherworld became thin on Samhain; because so many animals and plants were dying, it thus allowed the dead to reach back through the veil that separated them from the living. Bonfires played a large part in the festivities. People and their livestock would often walk between two bonfires as a cleansing ritual, and the bones of slaughtered livestock were cast into its flames.

The Gaelic custom of wearing costumes and masks, was an attempt to copy the spirits or placate them. In Scotland the dead were impersonated by young men with masked, veiled or blackened faces, dressed in white. Samhnag — turnips which were hollowed-out and carved with faces to make lanterns — were also used to ward off harmful spirits.

The Gaelic festival became associated with the Catholic All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day, and has hugely influenced the secular customs now connected with Halloween, a name first attested in the 16th century as a Scottish shortening of the fuller All-Hallows-Even. Samhain continues to be celebrated as a religious festival by some neopagans.

On this special day, I lite my altar candles, burned incense and meditated in front of my altar and reflected silently and wrote this poem/prose for the occasion...enjoy!

Happy Samhain Witch's New Year

on this day when light gives way to darknesswe enter another year

another year to embraceanother year on my faceanother year on my soulanother year to grow oldanother year not to fearanother year the witch's new year

honor the Goddess and the Godhonor all that has pasthonor all the people and animals we have lovedhonor and give thanks to our yesterdaysour lessons learned and wisdom earnedour memories we madetreasure each and every day

today we let go of things we no longer needand make way for the new in our livesas we plant the new seedsso mote it be

Saturday, October 30, 2010

(This is such a great idea for your altar & if you love to work with the elements. I can also add to what is listed as for the bottles to also draw/paint the element symbols on the bottles if you wish.)At my boutique we have a 4 elements pentacle necklace that can also be used as a decorative piece for your altar to view & buy click on link: Pentacle 4 Elements Pendant Necklace

Elemental Bottles ~author unknown

This idea is for those that would like to bottle the elements for their altar. Possibly for those who are not able to have a regular alter set up. The idea is to take 4 of those small coloured glass bottles with the cork lids (or the ones that have a rubber seal with a metal closure, and fill them with things representing the 4 elements, such as:

Red: (fire) Ash from a fire, matches

Green: (Earth) small stones, soil, salt

Yellow: (Air) feathers, little toy birds

Blue: (Water) Water, shells, sand

You can also add some of the essential oils for the elements. I think you could put some of some small crystals for the elements in there too, or substitute oils for herbs...Here is a list of some of the oils/herbs and crystals for the elements...

I though another use for the bottles would be instead of candles for the quarters, especially if you are working outside in the wind/rain or if you are in a forest where you are frightened of setting it alight! Or inside if you are not allowed to burn candles in the house.

I guess you could even make Goddess and God bottles, so that you could have an altar with the 4 elements and the Goddess and God out of pretty coloured bottles, and no-one would have a clue that they were really symbols of your religion!

I would make the God/dess bottles larger than the elementals.. . You may need to paint the bottles to get them the colour you want, a light coat of a cheap paint should make them translucent enough to still see through. (spray cans give an even coverage -- spray from far away though, or you'll get runs)

Goddess Symbols: moons, name of Goddess on paper, small pic. Or figurine, )O( symbol